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Madison, Wis., Facing Cyberattack, Likely Related to Shooting

The attack is similar to those that have happened in other cities after incidents like the controversial fatal shooting of Tony Robinson by a Madison police officer Feb. 6.

(Tribune News Service) -- The city of Madison’s website was shut down Monday night and its email systems affected by a cyberattack officials said could be related to the recent killing by police of an unarmed 19-year-old.

Dane County’s Department of Emergency Management said Madison started “experiencing a high volume of Internet activity consistent with an outside cyberattack” late Monday.

The attack is similar to those that have happened in other cities after incidents like the controversial fatal shooting of Tony Robinson by a Madison police officer Friday night.

Along with the city’s website and email systems, the attack affected in-car laptops used by law enforcement across the county.

Madison Police Lt. Kelly Donahue said the department’s officers experienced intermittent problems for about an hour before service was restored.

The city’s website was back online around 9:45 p.m. after several hours of down time.

The county said it opened its emergency operations center to deal with the attack.

“It isn’t known how long this activity could occur or who is responsible for it,” county officials said.

©2015 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC